New Jersey Approves Photo Enforcement

Photo enforcement is the latest euphemism for using traffic cameras as a way to generate revenue.  Governor Corzine, who himself has little regard for traffic laws, has signed the piece of garbage into law.

Assembly Transportation Chairman John S. Wisniewski (D-Middlesex) first wrote the measure with a complex set of requirements that would force localities to adopt one camera manufacturer’s specific technology. The initial draft mandated that: “the violation images are captured by a single, digital camera unit which produces a set of two images for each violation.” This would have excluded several vendors who use multiple camera setups and wet film to achieve the same result, but a subsequent amendment dropped the single camera requirement.

Someone check Wisniewskis portfolio or associations, and I’m sure you’ll find a link to the company that made that camera somewhere!

Local governments had lobbied heavily for the legislation as means of shoring up tight municipal budgets. To take advantage of the new ticketing program, they must submit a list of high-volume intersections to the state transportation department which has final approval over which locations can use cameras. Like Arizona, New Jersey’s proposed law would require each ticket to be “served by a law enforcement official.” This means that motorists may avoid paying a citation by dodging process servers for forty business days after the date of the alleged violation.

Tickets should not be about raising revenues for local governments, they should be about public safety.  Any photo enforcement centered around raising revenues as an argument ought to be rejected, and the fact that the local government openly tout this reason is another example of government being arrogant and out of control.  Sadly, I wish this was limited to The Garden State, but it is not.  We have to remind these people who they work for.